The PenPoint

By: Gian Evalla

A False Nostalgia

Bringing back the old one doesn’t guarantee to fix the problems in the present times. Sometime,
we just have to accept what is happening in the current situation than to reminisce and bring back the
false nostalgia.
Whenever I heard the word “summer”, memories in the past comes vividly in my mind. I can feel
the hot breeze of the weather and the wonderful heat of the sun touching my skin. Everything was so
good when I was a kid. As times goes by, time slowly took away the memories that I had and summer
doesn’t feel the same anymore. Summer is not the vacation that I once loved before.
The Department of Education (DepEd) is slowly transitioning to revert to the June to March
school calendar, years after the implementation of the new school calendar.
The intention is good, bringing back the old school calendar avoids students in the terrifying heat
of the summer and allows them to enjoy the vacation in sunny days. However, I firmly disagree in
reverting the school calendar to the old one, because it requires a lot of adjustments in student’s learning.
Contests, school activities, and the classes itself will be in rush.
According to Surigao Del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers, the return to a June- March
calendar is a huge leap forward for our students, parents, and teachers amid worsening climate change. He
also noted that going back to the old school calendar would be a big boost to domestic tourism.
It is undeniably true that boosting the country’s tourism and economy is important but the
student’s education is the main key in the country’s progression. A country that has a poor education is
like a compass pointing in a wrong direction.
Sibal said “While extreme weather condition takes place during wet and dry seasons, schools
typically suspends classes during typhoons but do not do the same with high temperature.
I used to think that sunny days are fun and exciting, but I witnessed how climate these days is
changing and worsening. We don’t have a choice but to bring back the old school calendar. But wait… do
we really don’t have other options? I strongly believe that DepEd should really focus more in fighting
heat threats by providing electric fans, and proper ventilation in classrooms, as well as providing water
dispenser to avoid dehydration and to combat the threat of high temperature.
Billions of budget is allotted for the Department of Education, and yet, school facilities.
According to DepEd, 5,000 schools in the Philippines have no access to electricity, while 10,000 have no
access to potable water. In addition, many schools lack adequate classrooms, textbooks, and teaching
materials, making it harder for students to study.
In my perspective, there are a lot of issues that the DepEd should focus more instead of reverting
the school calendar. Once the DepEd focused on these issues, weather cannot be a hindrance anymore in
the students’ education and reverting school calendar wouldn’t be an option anymore to achieve quality
education.
 A survey among 11,000 teachers by ACT in 2023 found out that over 67% of teachers
experienced “intolerable heat” in their classrooms during the peak of dry season in March. This has led to
students waning attention as well as more frequent student absences.
I believe that climate change is inevitable. Any month or days, it can be rainy or sunny. We
should adjust to the climate and not the climate will adjust to us. I think the real issue here is not the
weather, but the unreadiness of the DepEd to face any adversities and ensuring the welfare of the students
regardless of the weather.
When the pandemic came, DepEd made a sudden decision of reverting to school calendar. Now
that DepEd is making the same sudden decision that they made years ago, how can we rest assure that
everything will fall into place this time around?
According to the DepEd policies on application for leave section 6, teachers shall not be entitled
to the unusual vacation sick leave but to the proportional vacation pay of 70 days of summer vacation.
In a wider perspective, in the reversion of the of the school calendar is not in favor in teachers’
welfare, instead, it is against the rights of the teachers because it shortens the vacation leave of the
educators.
Furthermore, I don’t think that the knowledge and the capability of the students to learn depends
on weather nor the period of the time that the students are studying. Whether it is a June- March or
August-July school calendar, the knowledge and experience of students will remain the same.
If the reversion of school calendar will succeed, the senior high school students will bring back
the June- March school calendar and the Commission on Higher on Education (CHED) has an August-
July school calendar.
In my opinion, this long vacation can greatly affect senior high school students’ decision in
pusuing college or finding a job. These circumstances can decrease the number of college enrollees.
You see, many reasons why we don’t have to revert the school calendar serves as a great
testament that we don’t need to bring back the old school calendar to address the issues in the present
time. We have to make solutions to the problems in the current time instead of using an old and false
nostalgia in facing our dilemma.